Collaboration Facilitates Growth of the Profession
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* Rebecca S. Wilder

![Figure1](http://jdh.adha.org/https://jdh.adha.org/content/jdenthyg/89/3/142/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://jdh.adha.org/content/89/3/142/F1)

The 92nd Annual Session of the American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) is in a few weeks. Among the exciting events happening during those few days is a pre-meeting with the ADHA Council on Research (COR), members of the Canadian Dental Hygienists' Association (CDHA), representatives from the International Federation of Dental Hygienists (IFDH) and members of the Advisory Board for the National Center for Dental Hygiene Research and Practice (NCDHRP). A similar collaborative meeting occurred in October at the 3rd North American/Global Dental Hygiene Research Conference in Bethesda, Md. The meeting was very productive and verified the fact that we have more similarities than differences in our approaches to oral health care. Another highlight of the October meeting was the announcement of the availability of two excellent resources for dental hygiene educators and current and future investigators. The Dental Hygiene Toolkit and “Best Practices for Incorporating Dental Hygiene Research & Evidence Based Decision Making (EBDM) into Dental Hygiene Curriculum” were both created by the NCHDRP and edited by Professor Denise Bowen. JoAnn Gurenlian provided an excellent overview of the two resources in a recent editorial.1

The Toolkit is designed to facilitate dental hygiene researchers' understanding of the process of conducting investigations in a more efficient and precise manner. The Toolkit covers a wide spectrum of topics including the research process, research dissemination, specifics about survey research, meta-analyses, oral presentations, data analysis and more. New investigators might find the information on protocol design and requirements, reviewing the literature, scientific writing and conducting scholarship particularly useful.

One of the goals of every institution that educates dental hygiene students should be to provide introductory knowledge about the research process and evidence based decision making. The second resource, “Best Practices for Incorporating Research & EBDM into Dental Hygiene Curriculum” intends to provide valuable materials to assist dental hygiene faculty in curriculum development in this area. Both of the resources mentioned above can be obtained at the NCDHRP and IFDH website.

At the 2015 joint meeting in June, the ADHA COR will unveil a draft document of the revised National Dental Hygiene Research Agenda, which guides our research priorities. The COR has been working diligently to revise the document to reflect current and future research needs for the profession. Members are welcome and encouraged to provide input regarding the agenda. I hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Wilder, RDH, BS, MS

Editor–in–Chief, Journal of Dental Hygiene

*   Copyright © 2015 The American Dental Hygienists’ Association

## References

1.  Gurenlian J. Tools to support teaching and conducting research. Int J Dent Hyg. 2015;13(2):82. 
    
    [PubMed](http://jdh.adha.org/lookup/external-ref?access_num=25819068&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fjdenthyg%2F89%2F3%2F142.atom)